Pickering area patients celebrate success of video consultations with doctors

Patients from around the Pickering area are seeing the benefits of new ways of seeing their GP - including by video consultation.
A celebration event was held where patients access the extended opening hours.A celebration event was held where patients access the extended opening hours.
A celebration event was held where patients access the extended opening hours.

Back in the autumn, seven NHS Vale of York CCG member GP practices, in partnership with Modality Partnership, launched a new scheme for improving patient access to GP appointments.

Patients can now book video consultations with a GP, making even more appointments available to patients when they need them.

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Face to face appointments can also now be booked with a range of clinicians, including doctors, nurses and clinical support staff, seven days per week.

To reflect the success of this scheme, a celebration event was held on Friday at the two hub practices in Easingwold and Pickering where patients access the extended opening hours.

More than 40 people attended the events in total and both the Mayor of Easingwold and Pickering attending their respective local events.

Positive feedback was shared by everyone who joined the event who also shared their ideas of the best ways to raise awareness of the new service more widely in the local community.

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Dr Kevin Smith, the CCG’s Executive Director of Primary Care and Population Health said: “More access to primary care services and video consultations for patients is another step towards a very exciting journey that is transforming the delivery of local healthcare.

“Patients have told the CCG that they wanted more access to primary care services and giving them more choice and flexibility in terms of appointment types is achieving this for them.”

Dr Sarah Utting, North Locality GP and the Improving Access Clinical Service Director said: “We were really pleased that so many people were able to take time out to come and join us to celebrate the first few months of the new ways that patients can access care they need when they need it.

“It was great that a mix of patients, staff and local community representatives attended and we hope they learnt a lot about what these new ways of working mean and how easy it should now be to get an appointment when you need it.”

Further details of these changes to opening hours and ways to access appointments are available at your local GP practice.